Operating control interchanger for two stations

ABSTRACT

An interchanger by which the rudder mechanism of a boat can be activated and controlled from either of two steering wheels on a boat. Also in which only one wheel at a time may then be connected to the rudder. The interchanger comprises three arms, upper control, lower control and rudder, with the mounting end of each arm provided with a central square aperture and all aligned on a single axis and oscillatably supported in bearings and provided with a shiftable central body. Said central body formed with a square exterior portion that will slidably fit the square apertures in said arms but limited in length to engage only two of said square apertures in said arms at either of the two control settings. Said central body having both ends formed as a circular body that is rotatable in the supporting housing and shiftable from side to side so that it always engages the central rudder arm but will only engage one control station arm at a time, positioned on either side. This shiftable control provides an interchanger that is adaptable to the controls for two stations such as that found on a boat.

United States Patent Delaney OPERATING CONTROL INTERCHANGER FOR TWO STATIONS [76] Inventor: Bernard J. Delaney, 80 Jackson St.,

Keyport, NJ. 07735 [22] Filed: Sept. 28, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 401,695

[52] US. Cl. 74/495 [51] Int. Cl 862d 1/16 [58] Field of Search 74/486, 487, 495, 501; 114/162, 163,165, 170

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,814,212 11/1957 Garvcr 74/487 3,002,398 10/1961 Bcamcr..... 74/487 3,157,060 11/1964 Marr 74/487 3,248,882 5/1966 Roosa 74/501 3,588,231 6/1971 Platzcr, Jr 74/501 3,752,105 8/1973 Hackctt 114/162 Primary Examiner-Samuel Scott Asxislanl Examiner-Wesley S. Ratliff, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT An interchanger by which the rudder mechanism of a boat can be activated and controlled from either of two steering wheels on a boat. Also in which only one wheel at a time may then be connected to the rudder. The interchanger comprises three arms, upper control, lower control and rudder, with the mounting end of each arm provided with a central square aperture and all aligned on a single axis and oscillatably supported in bearings and provided with a shiftable central body. Said central body formed with a square exterior portion that will slidably fit the square apertures in said arms but limited in length to engage only two of said square apertures in said arms at either of the two control settings. Said central body having both ends formed as a circular body that is rotatable in the supporting housing and shiftable from side to side so that it always engages the central rudder arm but will only engage one control station arm at a time, positioned on either side. This shiftable control provides an interchanger that is adaptable to the controls for two stations such as that found on a boat.

2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures LZEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIQI f N OPERATING CONTROL INTERCHANGER FOR TWO STATIONS The present invention relates to an interchanger control system for a boat and more particularly to an improved simple interchanger for two stations, which may be controlled one at a time from either station selectively to steer the boat to operate the clutch or to operate the throttle.

The interchanger mechanism may be used on any craft but is particularly applicable to a boat having two control stations, particularly where they are remotely divided, such as an upper deck wheel and a lower deck wheel.

It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved push or pull two station interchanger system which allows the selective coupling of one of each of the manual controls at one station to be connected to the clutch or the throttle and disengages the other station controls thus reducing wear and associated drag resistance of the disconnected units.

It is another object of the invention to provide a dual steering control arrangement for boats in which a pair of steering wheels located at different parts of the boat are both connected to the rudder post in such a manner that the rudder may be selectively engaged to either wheel, the motion transmission means between each wheel and the rudder post being so arranged that, while one of the wheels is being manually operated, the other wheel remains stationary.

Other objects of this invention shall be apparent by reference to the accompanying detailed description and the drawings in which FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partially in cross section, of the steering interchanger with the left control and middle control engaged,

FIG. 2 is an end view partially in cross section taken at 22 on FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a perspective illustration of the central engaging piston used to engage either of the steering controls with the rudder control by a push or pull force exerted on a pair of springs within said piston,

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view partially in cross section showing the interchanger engaging the right control with the middle control,

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the push-pull control when pushed to the right to compress the spring and force the movement of the piston to the right to lock the right hand control with the central control, and

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of the push-pull control when pulled to the left to compress the spring and force the movement of the piston to the left to lock the left hand control with the central control.

Referring to the drawings and particularly FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 there is illustrated an interchanger unit 9. This interchanger unit 9 consists of a central circular shaft 10 having an exterior center section 11 that is square. The shaft 10 is tubular with a single radius bore throughout to a diameter equal to the dimensions across the flats. The length of the square section is equal to two the bore length of 14 of the one boss on one arm 12, thus the square section 1 1 fits through two bores 14. The shaft 10 is provided with a bore 18 through the center except for a small end portion 15 as shown. The opposite end 16 of shaft 10 is threaded to accept a keeper 17. A shifter piston 19 is mounted within the bore and tapped to accept the threaded end 20 of a push-pull cable 21 and locked with nut 22. The interchanger unit 9 has three arms 24, 25 and 26 each having a square aperture 27 (FIG. 2) in their upper end. This aperture 27 is equal to the diameter of the square portion 11 of the shaft 10. The three arms 24, 25 and 26 are assembled on the. shaft 10 with plastic sleeves 28 and'29 as shown in FIG. 1. The sleeves are external bearings to aid in holding the arms in alignment. The lower ends of the arms 24, 25 and 26 have an aperture 30 bored through to accept a clevis pin 31, and may have a second aperture 30A and pin 31A. This assembly is suspended in a triangular frame having a base 41 and two upright sides 42 and 43. The upper end of sides 42 and 43 are provided with plastic bearings 44 through which shaft 10 extends on either side. A top reinforcing bar 45 holds the sides 42 and 43 in alignment. The operation mechanism comprises a keeper 17 which is slipped on a push-pull cable 21 then a spring 47 is slid on cable 21 and piston 19 is threaded in place and locked in place by nut 22. Another spring 48 is inserted in bore 18 and this assembly pushed inward and locked in place by threading the keeper 17 on the threaded end of shaft 10. Cable 21 is supported by a bracket 50 attached to the side 42 and the bracket is secured to a support 51 and the cable is located and clamped in place by clamp 52. The cable extends to a control lever mounted at a remote station such as the flying bridge. The bridge control may be connected when the lever 61 is in the full line position and cable 21 has pulled piston 19 to the left FIG. 6 thus compressing spring 47 (FIG. 6). The pressure of spring 47 on the end 17 will cause the square portion or center section 11 to bear against the end of arm 24 until the movement of arm 24 aligns the sqaure aperture 14 with the square section 11. When aligned the shaft 10 will move to the left, FIG. 1 to the full line position shown. Thus the center arm 25 that is always connected to the element to be controlled such as the rudder will be connected to arm 24 which in turn is connected by a cable (FIG. 2) to the wheel at the flying bridge location. Similarly if the steering interchanger is located at or adjacent the main deck wheel, the main deck wheel may be connected to the arm 26. If the flying bridge control is pushed to the right, FIG. 1, when it is no longer needed at the flying bridge, the cable 21 will move piston 19 to the right, FIG. 5, thus loading spring 48 and causing the square portion 11 to move to the right as soon as the square aperture of arm 26 aligns with portion 11. The shaft 10 will thus assume the position illustrated in FIG. 4 and the rudder arm 25 will be connected to the arm 26 which is controlled by the main deck wheel. It is to be noted that the steering station selection 60 may be located at any convenient position and it will give an immediate steering control in either of two positions.

Although we have described the interchanger for the rudder as designed and installed in a boat having two steering wheels such as above deck or flying bridge and on deck and main wheel, it is to be understood that this control may also be used for any other craft wherein two spaced control stations are desired, for example, there may be two stations provided in a dirigible. It is also to be understood that the interchanger may be controlled from either of two stations to also control a throttle or a clutch. Although we have shown a square shank or section on the central shaft and a square hole or bore on the mating arms, it is to be understood that shall not be round and shall provide a non-rotatable union of the one element with relation to the other element. The invention described in detail in the foregoing specification is'subject to changes and modifications without departing from the principle and spirit thereof. The terminology used is for purposes of description and not of limitation; the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

What is claimed is: I

l. A two station mechanically engaged interchanger comprising a reciprocatable central body slidably positioned through a central bore of three aligned control arms and of a length to engage the central arm bore and one of the aligned control arms, said arms retained in juxtaposition on a central axis between two triangular frames and aligned by a pair of sleeve bearings, a central bore through said reciprocatable body, but said bore closed onone end, a push-pull cable with a piston affixed at its end, and said piston mounted within said central bore and a spring mounted either side of said piston and said central bore provided with a stop at either end for said springs to abut, said reciprocable central body provided with a middle section that is many sided along its outer periphery and of a length to fit through two similar shaped bores of two of said arms and biased to move either side of center by said piston of said push-pull cable to engage the central arm and the adjacent arm on the side it is bias to move to when the many sided body portion of the central body aligns with the similar shaped bore of the arm that is bias toward, said push-pull cable connected to a steering station selector that is positioned away from the two station interchanger.

2. The interchanger of claim 1 wherein the station selector is repeated at its control station to provide controls for more than one device. 

1. A two station mechanically engaged interchanger comprising a reciprocatable central body slidably positioned through a central bore of three aligned control arms and of a length to engage the central arm bore and one of the aligned control arms, said arms retained in juxtaposition on a central axis between two triangular frames and aligned by a pair of sleeve bearings, a central bore through said reciprocatable body, but said bore closed on one end, a push-pull cable with a piston affixed at its end, and said piston mounted within said central bore and a spring mounted either side of said piston and said central bore provided with a stop at either end for said springs to abut, said reciprocable central body provided with a middle section that is many sided along its outer periphery and of a length to fit through two similar shaped bores of two of said arms and biased to move either side of center by said piston of said push-pull cable to engage the central arm and the adjacent arm on the side it is bias to move to when the many sided body portion of the central body aligns with the similar shaped bore of the arm that is bias toward, said push-pull cable connected to a steering station selector that is positioned away from the two station interchanger.
 2. The interchanger of claim 1 wherein the station selector is repeated at its control station to provide controls for more than one device. 